Filter device including a housing with removable sidewalls having a filtering capacity

ABSTRACT

A filter device for separating solid material from a liquid includes a filter housing with vertically extending removable sidewalls wherein at the location of the removable sidewalls E-shaped connections are provided to receive two vertically extending sidewalls in spaced parallel relationship whereby a fluid impermeable sidewall may be inserted into the circumferential section of the housing when the liquid permeable section is removed for cleaning without interfering with the continual operation of the filter device. A pump or other apparatus are provided within the housing for removing filtered waste water therefrom.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates in general to filter devices and moreparticularly relates to improvement in filter devices for waste waterdischarge systems.

There have been proposed and utilized a number of different filteringdevices for separating solid matter from waste water in septic tanks.Most of the devices for removing waste water from septic tanks providesmeans for allowing the solid materials to settle to the bottom of thetank wherein the solid materials react with bacteria. The by-products ofthe reaction with the bacteria is then passed through a filtration meansto remove the remaining relative small solid particulates therefrom withthe waste water being removed by overflow or by discharge pumps into adrain field. One particular device taught in U.S. Pat. No. 4,439,323provides for a housing disposed within the upper portion of a septictank wherein the housing is provided with apertures through verticalside walls at selected locations therealong and spaced interiorally ofthe walls is a fine mesh screen. The spacing between the walls of thehousing and the screen is less than the diameter of the openings in thehousing wall. Also disposed within the interior of the housing is ameans to remove the filtered waste water from the housing by either apositive pressure pump or a syphoning device. However, whenever thescreen becomes plugged in the filtration device it is necessary to openup the septic tank, remove the screen for cleaning and after cleaning,replace the screen in the housing. Thus, during the period of time thescreen is removed for cleaning and replacing it is necessary for thefiltration system to be out of operation.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

An object of the present invention is to provide a filter device forseparating solids from a liquid.

Another object of this invention is to provide a filter device for usein a waste water treatment device or septic tank.

Even another object of this invention is to provide a filter devicehaving removable filter means within a housing which can be removed andcleaned during the filtration operation.

More particularly, the present invention provides a filter device forseparating solid material from a liquid comprising:

A housing having an open top, a closed bottom and a plurality ofvertically extending sidewall sections, at least one of the sidewallsections including a pair of removable vertically extending sidewallmembers being in spaced relationship, at least one of the removablevertically extending sidewalls being liquid permeable; and, means toremove liquid from the housing.

Briefly, the present invention provides a filter device useful incontinuous separation of solid matter from a liquid, such as wastewater, wherein the filter device is disposed within a waste watertreatment device or septic tank. The location of the filter device isdisposed within the upper portion of the septic tank but within thenormal level of the waste water. In the operation of a septic tank, mostof the solids, or particularly the large, heavier solid materials,settle to the bottom of the tank with the upper portion of the liquidcontaining only the small or light weight solid particulates which areleft in the waste water. In this upper portion of the liquid in the tankthe filter device is positioned. The housing for the filter deviceincludes a plurality of sidewall sections circumferentially positionedvertically around the housing, at least some of the sections includingfiltration means therethrough. These filtration sections areindividually removable but prior to removing, means are provided in thewalls of the housing for the insertion of a spaced vertically extendingmember, preferably a blind or liquid impervious section which isinserted to blind off the arcuate portion of the housing where theremovable filtration section is to be removed. The filtration sectioncan then be cleaned and reinserted back into the housing withoutshutting down the operation of the filtration device. It is alsorealized that another filtration section may be used instead of a blind.

Further objects and advantages of this invention will appear to thoseskilled in the art from the following description and appended claims,reference being had to the accompanying drawings forming a part of thespecification wherein like reference characters designate correspondingparts into several views.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a sectional view of one embodiment of the present inventiondisposed within a septic tank;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged sectional top view of the embodiment shown in FIG.1 taken along the line 2--2 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of one preferred removable fluid permeablesidewall of a housing of the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of another preferred embodiment of a liquidpermeable sidewall of a housing of the present invention;

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a removable fluid impermeable section ofa sidewall of the housing of the present invention;

FIG. 6 is an enlarged fragmentary perspective view showing details ofthe connecting means for the removable vertical sidewall sections ofFIGS. 3, 4 and 5 in the housing of a preferred embodiment of the presentinvention; and,

FIG. 7 is an enlarged fragmentary top view of a housing of the presentinvention showing another preferred connection means for the removablevertical sidewalls for the housing of a preferred embodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Referring to FIG. 1, an open-top, cylindrical filter housing 12 issuspended within a septic tank 10. The housing 12 is provided with acircumferentially extending flange 40 which is mounted onto acircumferentially extending lip 42 of the septic tank. The position ofthe housing 12 within the septic tank 10 is such that in normaloperation, the housing 12 will be partially submerged in waste water 52.

The waste water 52 within the septic tank 10 is generally in threelayers. Adjacent the bottom of the septic tank 10 is a layer identifiedby the numeral 54 comprising a high concentration of solids having aspecific gravity greater than that of water. The upper most layer,identified by the numeral 56, comprises a large concentration offloating solids which have a specific gravity less than that of water.Between the solid layer 54 and 56 is a relatively clear liquid or water,this layer being identified by the numeral 58. Filter housing 12 ispositioned with liquid permeable sidewall sections being disposed withinthe relatively clear layer 58.

As best shown in FIG. 2, the filter housing 12 is made up of a pluralityof vertically extending sidewall sections which extend circumferentiallyaround the housing, each one making up a preselected arcuate segment ofthe cylindrical walls of the housing 12. In one preferred embodiment,the cylindrically housing 12 is made up of alternating fixedly attachedvertically extending sidewall members, and removable verticallyextending sidewall members. Fixedly attached sidewall members areidentified by the numeral 18 and the removable vertically extendingsidewall sections are identified by the numerals 14 and 16. Removablevertically extending sidewall sections 14, as best shown in FIGS. 3 and4, are provided with liquid permeable portions and liquid impermeableportions. Vertically extending sidewall members 16, as shown in FIG. 5,are substantially liquid impermeable.

As shown in FIGS. 2 and 6 vertically extending E-shaped sidewallconnectors 20 are provided with a vertically extending front groove 22for receiving a vertical edge of a removable sidewall 14 or 16 and avertically extending parallel back groove 24 for receiving a verticaledge of a second removable sidewall 14 or 16. Grooves 22 and 24 are of awidth substantially the same as the thickness of the removable sidewalls14 and 16 thereby providing for a close or tight fit of the sidewalls 14and 16 within the grooves 22 and 24. Moreover, as shown in FIG. 2,E-shaped connectors 20 are disposed at spaced facing relationship atpreselected positions along the circumference of the housing 12 and thedistance between the facing E-shaped connectors are substantially thewidth of the removable sidewalls 14 or 16. E-shaped connectors 20 may befixedly attached or removable. Also, as shown in FIG. 2, between theback sides of the E-shaped connector 20 is a liquid impermeable sidewall18 which is generally non-removable and unitary with the construction ofthe canister 12. The back side of the E-shaped connector 20, as shown inFIG. 2, includes a C-shaped holder portion 26 with a verticallyextending groove 28 therein for receiving the edges of the sidewalls 18.As shown in FIG. 7, the C-shaped holding portion 26 is not necessary andthe sidewalls 18 may be integral with two spaced E-shaped connectors 20.

As shown in FIGS. 3, 4, and 5, the removable sidewalls 14 and 16 areprovided with handles 44 thereon for easy removal and replacement withinthe housing 12.

As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the removable sidewalls 14 are provided withfilter means within a preselected vertical portion of the sidewalls.Particularly, in one preferred embodiment as shown in FIG. 3, thesidewall 14 is divided into substantially three equal vertical sections,the lower section being identified by the numeral 46 which is a liquidimpermeable section, a middle section identified by the numeral 48awhich is the liquid permeable section, and the upper third section beinga fluid impermeable section identified by the numeral 50. As shown inFIG. 3, the fluid permeable section is a plurality of horizontallyextending slots having a relatively narrow height generally being fromabout 1/64" to 1/4" and preferably about 1/32 of an inch for theallowing of clear waste water to pass therethrough and particulatematerial having a diameter greater than 1/32 of an inch separated fromthe liquid passing through the slots 48a. In FIG. 4, a fine mesh screenportion 48b is provided and the mesh of the screen is such thatparticles having one size dimension greater than 1/32" will not passthrough.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, a positive pressure pump 30 is provided toremove the filtered waste water from the interior of the housing 12 to adrain field outside the confines of the septic tank 10. The positivepressure pump 30 is operated in response to a level control device 34which includes a vertically movable float 36 thereon which may be anywell-known commercially available level control device and float. Thelevel control device 34 is in electrical communication with the pump 30through electrical conduit 32 which actuates the pump 30 in response tothe location of the float 36. The pump 30 is also provided with adischarge conduit 38 which provides the means for directing the wastewater from the housing 12 into a specific location in a drain field orout through other provided laterals.

In the operation of the preferred embodiment, a plurality of liquidpermeable removable sidewalls 14 are installed circumferentially atselected locations around the housing 12. As the waste water 52 rises inthe septic tank 10, waste water 52 containing particulates smaller thanthe openings in the sidewall 14 pass through the walls 14 into theinterior of the housing 12. As the waste water continues to rise, thefloat 36 being disposed on the top thereof also rises. At a preselectedlevel of float 36, the level control device 34 actuates the pump 30thereby draining down the waste water to a preselected level determinedby a new lower level of the float 36 at which time the electrical levelcontroller 34 deactivates the pump 30. After a number of operations offiltration, solid material will plug the openings in the liquidpermeable sections 48a, 48b of the sidewalls 14 thereby decreasing theefficiency of the operation of the filter device. With the liquidpermeable portion of a sidewall 14 being plugged the operator may theninsert a liquid impermeable sidewall 16 or another liquid permeablesidewall 14 into one of the pairs of grooves 24 of the E-shapedconnector 20. As shown in FIG. 2, the liquid permeable removablesidewalls 14 are received within the front grooves 22 and fluidimpermeable removable sidewalls 16 are received within the back grooves24. Once the removable sidewall 16 has been inserted in place, theremovable sidewall 14 which is spaced parallel to the removable sidewall16, may then be removed and cleaned without interfering with theoperation of the unit which includes a number of other liquid permeablesidewalls 14 still in place as shown in FIG. 2. Once the removablesidewall 14 has been cleaned, it may then be reinserted into theappropriate section of the housing 12 and the liquid impermeableremovable sidewall 16 parallel thereto and spaced from the recentlyinserted sidewall 14 removed.

Preferably the housing 12 and all of the sidewalls 14, 16 and 18 as wellas the E-shaped connectors are made of suitable molded plasticmaterials, one preferred plastic material being a molded polypropylene,polyethylene, or the like.

It is realized that various changes may be made by those skilled in theart without departing from the principals and scope of the invention asexpressed in the claims appended thereto.

What is claimed is:
 1. A filter device in combination with a tank forseparating solid material from a liquid wherein the filter devicecomprises:a housing having a top, with an opening therein, a closedbottom, and a plurality of vertically extending sidewall sections, atleast one of said sidewall sections including means to receive a pair ofspaced, parallel removable vertically extending sidewall members, atleast one of said removable vertically extending sidewalls being afilter means to retain solids of preselected size from a liquid; and,means to remove liquid from said housing through said opening in saidtop.
 2. The filter device of claim 1, said pair of removable verticallyextending sidewall sections being circumferentially aligned with a frontsidewall and a back sidewall wherein in a filtering condition one ofsaid sidewalls being liquid permeable, and in a cleaning operation theother of said sidewalls being liquid impermeable.
 3. The filter deviceof claim 1, said sidewall sections being liquid permeable including aplurality of horizontally extending slots.
 4. The filter device of claim3, said horizontally extending slots being from about 1/64" to 1/4inches in height.
 5. The filter device of claim 1, said at least one ofsaid removable vertically extending sidewalls having a lower verticalliquid impermeable section, a middle vertical permeable section and anupward vertical liquid impermeable section.
 6. The filter device ofclaim 5, said lower impermeable section being approximately one-third ofthe vertical height of said member and said middle liquid permeablesection being approximately one-third of the vertical height of saidmember.
 7. The filter device of claim 1, only one sidewall member beingreceived within said means to receive a pair of spaced, parallelremovable vertically extending sidewall members.